This poem was inspired by the incredibly noisy neighbourhood I live in Mumbai. In my last trip, I realised, compared to Singapore, my home was super noisy and it took me a couple of days to push that noise to the back, but it was quite a difficult few days. Then coming back to Singapore, the silence also took some time to get used to!

The Sounds of Home

The sounds start early,

As the birds begin to wake up in the tree;

The ringing of the bell of the milkman,

The shouts of the newspaper man,

This is how we wake-up in good old Mumbai.

Then the real noisy business of the day starts their cries,

The children coming to the school next door,

Their voices eager and ready to soar,

The college students who congregate in the lane below;

Whiling their time between classes, ebb and flow.

Then of course, who can forget,

The noise of vehicles, that drive past like a jet,

This not including the general cacophony of sounds;

Like the cawing crows and vendors in the background,

These are the sounds that define my neighbourhood,

These are the sounds of my childhood,

All day, from morning to night, there is a steady stream of competing sounds,

Till they fade away from your consciousness as the noise resounds.

It’s only when you come back after a while,

You realise that your beloved city, your loved isle,

Is actually quite noisy, but you care not a tome,

You love it anyway, coz, these are the sounds of home!

Source

I sit among the cacophony of sounds
Yet alone, as if out of bounds

People around me, happy and gay
But in my mind, are shades of grey

The happiness that I see around me
Makes me want to move away and flee

A weight on my mind, bring to mind memories blind
Those which are twined to become confined

I yearn for the moments when I can be alone
Away from everything, to get into the zone

To be alone, to be by myself
For that’s when I can hear myself think
To decide on next steps, to bring me from the brink

I want, nay need the space to be free
To ponder, to feel and to brood
Me and my solitude…

Source

The absence of sound is silence

But is golden silence brilliant?

Away from the daily hustle and bustle

To be able to commune with nature and mull

Over the different things you want to think and do

Especially when your mind is in a funk and blue

Then the silence helps you clear your mind

Tells you what to do next and get you out of the bind

Then silence is the wisdom, the truth and the fragrance

That which soothes your soul and gives you balance

These words were inspired during BB’s thread ceremony when realisation suddenly hit me that both BB & GG are all grown up and almost adults.

When you were born….

When you were born, you fit in the crook of my hands;

Today, I need to look up to meet your glance.

When you were born you needed me for everything;

Today, you are young adults, finding your own way in everything.

When you were born, I was your entire world;

Today, you are finding your own way in the world.

When you were born, I waited eagerly for you to take your first steps;

Today, I am both excited and sad that soon you will mark your footsteps in the world.

When you were born, you were my babies;

Today, you are still my babies, to love and to cherish.

The rain fell hard, beating down on a well-trodden path,

Puddles abounded in the garden as if they’ve taken a bath.

The trees glistened with water, the sun a light amber,

Suddenly over the horizon, the world breaks into a smile….

An upside down smile, if you must, but a smile all the while,

Violet, Indigo, Blue, Green, Yellow, Orange and rounded up with Red.

You stop and stare at this beautiful spectacle;

Mother Nature at her finest, puts any painting to shame.

Reminds to stop and take in the beauty of her game,

The perfect pause to a day filled with stress and full of blame

The rainbow also tells of being that special pause in someone’s life

That which makes them smile in the midst of their life’s strife

Be that rainbow and bring a smile, brighten up someone’s life….